302 ReEcorD: BOoxwoops OF COMMERCE 
In Australia the name box is applied to various species of 
Eucalyptus and to Tristania conferta R. Br. (Myrtaceae). The 
structure of these woods is distinct from the boxwoods of com- 
merce. The writer is as yet unable either to verify or disprove 
the statement often met with that the boxwood of the Bahamas 
is Vitex umbrosa Sw. (Verbenaceae). Apparently there is no such 
wood on the market. 
UsES OF BOXWOOD 
The principal uses of boxwood are for engraving, manufacture 
of mathematical instruments, shuttles, turnery, musical instru- 
ments, and in the form of veneer for inlay and marquetry. The 
Japanese use it for making combs. Jewelers use wheels of it for 
burnishing and the sawdust for polishing. There was formerly 
considerable demand for it by makers of roller skates. The 
manufacture of boxwood spools for wires in telephone boxes made 
use of considerable small Turkish boxwood sticks but composition 
spools have replaced the wooden ones. 
The use of wood engravings persists in spite of the advance of 
other methods. The number of engravers in the United States 
is said to be about 200 of whom 150 are located in Chicago. 
The blocks are cut edge-grain and are seven eighths inch high. 
The best blocks measure 2 x 2 inches free of the pith and can 
only be procured from logs measuring not less than 44 inches in 
diameter. Cuttings from these blocks are built up into blocks of 
any desired size. Small defects may be bored out and plugged. 
APPEARANCE OF BOXWOOD LOGS 
The boxwoods are imported in the form of logs or small sticks. 
The Turkish, East London, and Knysna varieties look like cord- 
wood in the round and are usually very knotty and crooked. The 
material is usually sorted as to sizes in the yards of the dealers, and 
Turkish boxwood sticks as small as one inch in diameter are mer- 
chantable. 
The logs of Venezuelan boxwoods are 8 to 12 feet long, mostly 
straight, smooth and round, and vary in diameter from 6 to 20 
inches, mostly 6 to 10 inches. The larger logs are commonly 
sawed in half lengthwise and stored in dry sheds to prevent 
splitting. 
